Healthwatch Kent’s Steve Inett comments, “Whilst we cannot comment on this particular case, we would encourage anybody with concerns to share their experience with us at Healthwatch Kent. Our volunteers hold a regular session at Tunbridge Wells Hospital talking to patients and their families about...

Our Big Red Bus is back for 2016! We'll be touring around Kent stopping in every district and we hope to see you there from 13th to 19th June. Come and share your experiences of local health and social care services. We'll use your experience to help improve services for others. We'll be making the...

We are looking to recruit a full time Activities Administrator. We are seeking an experienced, passionate and motivated individual to take on the role of Activities Administrator. Working to the Senior Administrator, this is a dynamic and varied role which will see you undertaking the following...

We've been talking to over 100 members of Patient Participation Group and GP Practices about the challenges and issues they face. You can read all about our findings in our attached report . We've also made a number of recommendations and committed to an action plan. Our plan will see us supporting...

We have been hearing from you about your issues around NHS dental services. These issues ranged from accessing a dentist, confusion around payment and feedback about the treatment itself. This led us to commission a piece of research to help us gain a better understanding of local people’s...

Traditionally winter is a very busy time for our hospitals, especially Accident & Emergency departments. Extra pressure is placed on an already stretched service. Although our health and social care system plans for what they call 'Winter Pressures' it is always hard to predict what they will...

We want to hear from you. We are creating a new Kent wide forum for people with physical disabilities. Do you want to get involved? We'd love to hear from you. In Kent, there already networks and forums for older people, people who have a learning disability and mental health issues. There is no...

If you have experience of mental health services in East Kent, either good or bad, you have a chance to improve the service. In East Kent, the people responsible for mental health services are developing their priorities for future services. Make your voice heard Complete their online survey to...

Healthwatch Kent's Steve Inett said, "The lack of care and respect for residents at Westgate College that we have heard today is extremely saddening. We would urge any patients who have experiences of Westgate College or any other health and social care service in Kent to contact Healthwatch Kent...

Healthwatch Kent's Steve Inett said, "It’s disappointing to hear in the news today about the levels of MRSA and infection control at Darent Valley Hospital. We will be working closely with both the hospital and the Clinical Commissioning Group who commissions hospital services to ensure this is...

Get your views heard about the Children & Adolescent Mental Health service. If you have used the Children & Adolescent Mental health service recently then we want to hear from you. We've been working with the organisations that commission and provider this service in Kent but we want to...

£2million could be saved in West Kent through better medicine management. Help the Clinical Commissioning Group understand why people don’t take or hoard unused prescribed medicines: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WK_MedsMan2016

We are hearing from mental health patients, and their families, about their experiences of being given a bed outside of Kent. We're also hearing about people who have had their discharge from mental health hospitals delayed If you, or someone you know, has had either of these experiences talk to us...

We're visiting Elm Court in Dartford tomorrow to talk to patients who have recently been discharged from Darent Valley Hospital. Have you recently been discharged from hospital? What was your experience like? Tell us your story by emailing info@healthwatchkent.co.uk or calling for free on 0808 801...

If you, or someone you know, has experienced End of Life Care services recently then we want to hear from you. We hear from many people that their experience may not always be as good as it could be so we are keen to talk to people about their experience of End of Life Care services. We want to...

Kent County Council has recently organised a public consultation about the future of four older people’s homes as part of their wider Accommodation Strategy. The consultation asked the public for feedback about the future of four care homes across Kent and received widespread interest from the...

If so, you may be interested to know that diabetic services in West Kent are due to change. On Tuesday 22nd March there is a meeting with the Clinical Commissioning Group who makes decisions about changes to services. The meeting will discuss the changes to services. Tuesday 22nd March at 7pm The...

Tonight there is a debate in the House of Commons about End of Life Care. Tell us about your experience of End of Life Care in Kent. How could it be improved? You can call us anytime for free on 0808 801 0102 or email info@healthwatchkent.co.uk

On a regular basis we escalate any serious concerns directly to the Care Quality Commission. To give you an example, we recently escalated a situation in a care home that a member of the public had shared with us. Kent County Council in conjunction with the Clinical Commissioning Group immediately...

The ambulance service will soon be inspected by the Care Quality Commission. As part of that we want to hear from you about your experiences of using the ambulance service. We want to hear all your stories be it good or bad. Your experiences will be used to help inform the inspection of the...

This month we have been visiting Accident & Emergency departments to talk to patients and see how our hospitals are coping during what is traditionally a very busy time for our A&E departments. Our volunteers have already visited both Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone Hospitals and Darent Valley...

Healthwatch Kent comments on leaked report into South East Coast Ambulance service Healthwatch Kent's Steve Inett said, "Naturally we are concerned to hear that patients were affected by changes to ambulance response times last winter. We have not seen a copy of the leaked report which is mentioned...

If you have used the Children & Adolescent Mental health service recently then we want to hear from you. We've been working with the organisations that commission and provider this service in Kent but we want to hear from you if things have really improved. Tell us your experience. Fill in our...

The Alzheimer's Society today published a report about support available for dementia patients in hospitals. Healthwatch Kent’s Steve Inett comments, “We hear from the public that it can be a daunting and scary experience for people with dementia being admitted to hospital. We know that there are a...